Lochranza Castle is an L-plan fortified

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

situated on a promontory in

Lochranza Lochranza () is a village located on the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. The population, somewhat in decline, is around 200 people. Geography Lochranza is the northernmost of Arran's villages and is located in the northwestern c ...

, on the northern part of the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; ) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Counties of Scotland, Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the ...

in Scotland. Most of the current structure was built in the 16th century.

History

The castle dates from the 13th century when it was owned by the MacSweens. In 1262, King Alexander III granted the castle and its lands to Walter Stewart, the Earl of Menteith. It is believed that

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

landed at Lochranza in 1306 on his return from Ireland to claim the Scottish throne. By 1371, the castle was the property of Robert II. It is thought that at this time it was used as a royal hunting lodge. During the 1490s,

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

used the castle in his campaign against the

Lord of the Isles Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was ...

and the

Clan MacDonald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan McDonald ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs a ...

. In 1600 Robert Montgomerie of

Skelmorlie Skelmorlie is a village in North Ayrshire in the southwest of Scotland. Although it is the northernmost settlement in the council area of North Ayrshire it is contiguous with Wemyss Bay, which is in Inverclyde, and has a PA zone postcode unl ...

recovered the castle for the Marquess of Hamilton from Alastair Mc Alastair and his followers. In 1614 it was occupied by the king and in the 1650s it was used by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

. By 1705, Lochranza Castle was the property of the Hamilton family, after it was purchased by the Duchess of Hamilton. The Hamiltons had owned other estates on the Isle of Arran so eventually sold it to the Blackwood-Davidson family who used it as their principal seat. During the 18th century, the castle fell into disuse and was abandoned. The castle is now in the care of

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

In popular culture

For the album ''

The Black Island ''The Black Island'' () is the seventh volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper for its children's supplement , it was serialised weekly from A ...

'' in ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' ( ) is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. By 2007, a c ...

'',

Methuen Publishing Methuen Publishing Ltd (; also known as Methuen Books) is an English publishing house. It was founded in 1889 by Sir Algernon Methuen (1856–1924) and began publishing in London in 1892. Initially, Methuen mainly published non-fiction acade ...

, the English publisher, asked for more realism for the third edition of 1966.

Bob de Moor Robert Frans Marie De Moor (20 December 1925 – 26 August 1992), better known under his pen name Bob de Moor, was a Belgian comics creator. Chiefly noted as an artist, he is considered an early master of the Ligne claire style. He wrote and ...

, then

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...

's assistant, followed in Tintin's exact footsteps, drawing inspiration from different locations to produce a new set of background designs. He goes to the

. According to Charles Dierick, a member of

Studios Hergé The Studios Hergé () were, between 1950 and 1986, a SARL company consisting of Belgian cartoonist Hergé and his collaborators, who assisted him with the creation of ''The Adventures of Tintin'' and derived products. Over the years, the studios ...

, it erroneously follows that Lochranza Castle is said to serve as a model. But this one has a square tower and its silhouette is not appropriate, whereas on this same island Bob de Moor reproduces certain details of

Brodick Castle Brodick Castle is a castle situated outside the port of Brodick on the Isle of Arran, an island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It was previously a seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The cas ...

. The castle appeared in "Dom Joly and the Black Island" on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

TV on 19 March 2010, in which it was portrayed as being

Kisimul Castle Kisimul Castle () and also known as Kiessimul Castle, is a medieval castle located on a small island off Castlebay, Barra, in the Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Lon ...

on the

Isle of Barra Barra (; or ; ) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway. In 2011, the population was 1,174. ...

in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

, as it appeared directly after Joly was shown attempting to reach Kisimul Castle.

Notes

External links

* {{coord, 55.7053, -5.2903, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Castles in North Ayrshire Historic Environment Scotland properties in North Ayrshire Scheduled monuments in North Ayrshire Isle of Arran Hunting lodges in Scotland